Henry g



(No Model.)

H. G. 82; W; BUTLER. METHOD OF BURNING CLAY TO MAKE BALLAST.

-Pa tented Nov. 22, 1892 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY G. BUTLER AND WILLIAM BUTLER, OF KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, AS- SIGNORSTO THE DAVY CLAY BALLAST COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF BURNING CLAY TO MAKE BALLAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,? 61, datedNovember 22, 1892.

Application filed May 9, 1892. Serial No. 432,305. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY G. BUTLER and .WILLIAM BUTLER, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Kenosha, in the county of Kenosha andState of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Improvement inMethods of Burning Clay to Make Ballast, &o., of which the following isa specification.

Our invention is in the nature of an improvement in the now well-knownprocedure of makingballast, paving material, 850., from clay by burningthe clay in the open airin a long pile or fire supplied with clay dugfrom alongside the pile and fuel, (commonly coal,) the clay and fuelbeing applied alternately; and the burning is controlled with a view toproducing, so far as possible, a uniform quality of the burnt clayproduct throughout the pile.

The ultimate object of our improvement is to lessen the cost of burningclay according to the plan thus generally outlined. This we effect byabout one-half over the method of burning as now practiced by formingand maintaining a peculiar shape of the long pile or fire by ourpeculiar manner of preparing the same, by our peculiar manner ofpreparing the ground before starting the fire, and also after startingit, and by a particular man- 'ner of building onto the fire or pile inits development, whereby we avoid necessity for drawing it, and thus areenabled to save materially in fuel, heat, time, and labor.

The several features of our invention are not interdependent, since eachwill serve to afford some advantage if incorporated alone with theotherwise old practice in burning clay, and we do not therefore limitour invention to the practice of all the steps we have invented, thoughour object is fully attained by observing all the features aboveoutlined, hereinafter described in detail, in burning the clay.

The peculiar nature of the subject of our invention rendersimpracticable illustration thereof otherwise than indicatively byrepresentation in diagrammatic form in the accompanying drawings, inwhieh- Figure 1 is a plan view, in the nature of a diagram, showing thegeneral zigzag shape in which we prefer to form our fire from thebeginning, and defining also the successively prepared strips of groundalong a side of the fire; and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of thefinished pile, also in the nature of a diagram, having indicated upon itall the steps of our proceeding capable of representation.

To practice our improvement we proceed as follows upon suitable clayground, the location of which is ordinarily selected for the sake ofconvenience near a line of railroad.

We first prepare the ground by spreading carbonaceous fuel (usuallycoal, and preferably the cheaper variety thereof, as coalslack ormine-refuse) over the portion thereof on which the fire is to be built,and we then loosen or plow it to a depth of, say, several inches,whereby the earth and fuel are well mixed. We then lay the kindling,using by preference long lengths of woodsuch as old railroad-ties, oldbridge-timbers, and the likedisposing them in more or less reg ularzigzag relation to each other, as represented in Fig. 1 on the drawings,wherein they are shown as placed end to end. We thus form a zigzag heapand prefer to pile thereon sufficient kindling material to render theinitial heap, indicated at A in Fig. 2, two or three feet high. WVe thencover the pile of kindling thus formed with clay, preferably, to a depthof from six to eight inches, dug from one side or from both sides of theline of the fire. In fact, the burning may be continued to the end onboth sides, when the digging may proceed on one side or on both sides ofthe fire, though we prefer to continue it on one side only, since thenthe finished ballast may be taken and loaded for transportation from theother side while theburning on the one side is progressing. The initialwidth of the surface of the ground loosened, as hereinbefore described,should be greater than that of the initial zigzag line of kindling laid,in order that the clay for heaping upon the pile may be the more easilyand economically dug from either side or both sides thereof. Tofacilitate the burning with some kinds of clay prior to piling it on thekindling, the latter may be strewn with coal. The zigzag shape of thefire thus initially formed, and which is maintained throughout theburning, affords particularlythe advantage over the straight firehitherto employed of preventing side or diagonally-directed winds fromsweeping the pile from end to end and thereby driving the heat away fromthe surface, which tends to retard the burning of the more recentlyimposed covering or coverings of clay. A further advantage thereof isdue to the pocket-s, so to speak, formed by sections of the pile meetingat respectively converging and diverging angles, whereby the exposedportions catch the air or draft, allowing it readily to penetrate intothe uneven fire at its projections and thus hasten combustion and by theenhanced action thereof the better spread the heat throughout the fireand accordingly improve the quality of the product.

When the initial pile has been lighted and allowed to get sufficientlyunder way, we begin to increase its transverse dimension in a manner toobviate the necessity for subsequently drawing it by placing more woodon the ground at the side or sides at which the earth has beenpreviously loosened in preparing the initial bed of the fire byirnposingmore kindling material (as wood) thereon, following the outline of theinitial pile to maintain its zigzag form. Over this wood more coalshould be scattered in coaling the surface of the burning pile, afterwhich more clay is dug and piled on the fire. While the fire is burning,We further prepare the ground at the base of the pile by strewing coalover a width,say, of a foot or so alongit and plowing it up to loosenthe clay and mix the coal with it, as indicated at B in Fig. 1, and thenpiling on more wood, more coal, (by preference, as aforesaid,) and moreclay from the base of the pile so increased in diameter. This proceedingof preparing the ground for a desired width along the pile by strewingwith coal, then plowing and imposing the clay thereon, (or on interposedwood, if desired,) is continuedat intervals (say daily) until thedesired width of the fire has been attained. In Fig. 2 the result ofeach of the aforesaid proceedings is indicated at C.

It should be stated that it is not necessary that each of the operationsinvolved by the proceeding referred to as preparing the ground andwidening the pile shall be carried on separately, as all may beperformed simultaneously on different sections of the fire. As will beobserved by reference to Fig. 2, with all the operations completed onany section or length of the fire and the base thereof accordinglyincreased in width, the desired dome shape in cross-section of the pileis maintained, which allows the entire surface of the fire to besufficiently exposed to enable it to receive its full share of air. Itwill be further noticed that by digging the clay from the front of thefire (or side thereof facing the operators) a gradual slope is made andmaintained since the gradual increase of the surface of the pile to becovered with clay requires a larger quantity of the latter to cover it,and accordingly it has to be taken from a gradually-increasing depth,thus producing the slope indicated at a: in Fig. 2, of the base of thefire. When the slope has attained a sufficient depth, as indicated at00,

Fig. 2, (say about six to eight feet,) and the fire has reached a heightbeyond which it'would be inconvenient to handle it (say ten to twelvefeet) a level is maintained of both base and crown of the pile, thebottom still being prepared in the manner described and the coverings ofclay being carried only to the crown, but not over it. Thus bysuccessive coverings along the side (or sides) the crown D becomesalmost level though the upper ends of the successive coverings willproduce ridges or furrows 19 lengthwise of the fire, which should befilled when the burning of the top is well under way with coal and cov:ered with partially burned clay from the crown, thereby increasing theheat and the more thoroughly burning the mass on the top of the fire.

To facilitate the burning the whole surface of the fire should be gentlyprobed from time to time with metal bars, thereby to break the surfaceand permit air to penetrate into it freely.

By plowing along the base and mixing in coal with the plowed clay twoparticular advantages are gained-namely, first, an open base for thefire which admits draft thereto, thereby promoting combustion, and,secondly, the loosened clay is ultimately burned as well as theremainder of the fire to a considerable depth into the ground by theburning of the coal mixed with it from the heat above it. The extralarge quantity of burnt clay thus obtained is gained at very slightcost, and thus greatly cheapens the cost of producing the whole.

By building onto the fire instead of and in contradistinction to drawingit to increase its width and forming the dome-shaped fire with a toplike ours affords great saving in coal, since the heat is thereby notwasted that rises through the consecutive coverings of clay and rapidlyreduces them to and maintains them a glowing mass.

There is no particular difficulty in maintaining a well-defined zigzagform of our fire, though it will afford the advantage ascribed to iteven if it be less well defined, and we desire to have included aswithin the spirit of our invention even an approximately zigzag form ofthe pile. Furthermore, it is not indispensably necessary that the fireshall be laid or initially in the zigzag form, since it may in variousways be gradually caused to assume it.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In burning clay to make ballast, &c., by laying and maintaining afire in the open air with fuel and clay, the method of promoting theburning, which consists in forming the fire in zigzag shape,substantially as described.

IIO

2. In burning clay to make ballast, &c., by laying and maintaining afire in the open air with fuel and clay, the method of promoting theburning and increasing the products, which consists in loosening thesoil and mixing fuel with it preparatory to building on it the fire,substantially as described.

3. In burning clay to make ballast, &c., by laying and maintaining afire in the open air with fuel and clay, the method of promoting theburning and increasing the product, which consists in loosening the soilof the foundation and mixing fuel with it and piling thereonkindling-wood preparatory to applying thereon the clay to be burned andcoal for burning it and preparatory to increasing the width of thefirewith additional clay and coal, substantially as described.

4. In burning clay to make ballast, &c., by laying and maintaining afire in the open air with fuel and clay, the method of promoting theburning and increasing the product, which consists in loosening the soilof the foundation and mixing fuel with it, laying thereon azigzag bed ofkindling and piling on the kindling and burning clay and coal andincreasing the width of the pile by loosening the soil along the sameand mixing fuel with it and layingthereonkindlingin the zigzaglineof theinitial pile and piling on the newly-prepared 3o foundation the clay tobe burned and coal for burning it, substantially as described.

5. In burning clay to make ballast, 850., by laying and maintaining afire in the open air with fuel andclay, the method of promoting theburning and increasing the product, which consists in loosening the soilof the foundation and mixing fuel with it, laying thereon a zigzag bedof kindling and piling on the kindling and burning clay and coal,increasing the Width of the pile by loosening the soil along the sameand mixing fuel with it and laying thereon kindling in the zigzag lineof the initial pile and piling on the newly-laid foundation the clay tobe burned and coal for burning it, thereby also gradually increasing theheight of the fire to a desired altitude, thenceforward piling additionsof clay and coal only to the crown of the fire and coaling the furrowsthus formed on the crown and covering them with clay from the pile,substantially as described.

HENRY e. BUILER. WILLIAM BUTLER.

In presence of- M. J. Fnosrr, J. N. HANSON.

